


Beyond The Walls

by DarkSkull198



Series: 101 Dalmatian Street: Dark What-if Scenarios [2]
Category: 101 Dalmatian Street (Cartoon)
Genre: Acceptance, And probably lots of therapy, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Bittersweet Ending, Breaking the Fourth Wall, Dante Needs a Hug, Dante has seen things, Dante is basically Sans without powers in this, Existential Crisis, Gen, I Don't Even Know, Mild Blood, Self-Harm, references to other fics
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-22
Updated: 2020-10-22
Packaged: 2021-03-08 23:21:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,678
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27154423
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarkSkull198/pseuds/DarkSkull198
Summary: Dylan has an important question for Dante. Once it's answered, it will change everything he thought he knew about his family, the world and even himself. One-Shot.
Series: 101 Dalmatian Street: Dark What-if Scenarios [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2071107
Comments: 1
Kudos: 12





	Beyond The Walls

**Author's Note:**

> So I was bored one day and I thought to myself: "Hey, why don't I make a fic about Dante's 4th wall breaks?" Don't take this too seriously though. Or do, I don't know.
> 
> Anyway, enjoy!

It was a normal day on 101 Dalmatian Street, well, as normal as it can be in a house filled with dalmatians. All of the pups were doing what they usually do, but Dylan, one of the eldest pups in the house, was sitting in his treehouse pondering about one specific pup in the family, and that pup is Dante.

Now Dante was always one of the most..."unique" pups in the family; He had black fur with white and purple dots, he always hid in the shadows and he'll always shout about "the end of the world" to everyone. Despite all of that, Dylan loved his brother dearly, yet there was something else about the goth pup that was....unsettling to say the least.

Ever since the day they had to let go of Mr. Fuzzy, Dylan would sometimes notice Dante looking around the house, frantically poking and prodding at every little thing he saw like he was testing if they were really there in front of him. He'd notice Dante staring at him and the others in panic at certain moments, but not the usual panic that was to be expected from Dante, no, this type of panic was one of shock and disbelief, as if he couldn't believe whatever it was he was seeing with his eyes. Over time though, this panic morphed into a blank gaze of acceptance. Acceptance of what, Dylan wasn't quite sure, but he couldn't stand to see his brother in that state of bitter defeat. He tried to tell the others about this, but they all dismissed it as Dante's usual paranoia.

What was even more strange is that Dylan could recall two certain incidents where Dante said "previously on 101 Dalmatian Street" like a narrator on a cartoon show. But that's ridiculous, right? Dylan wasn't in a cartoon show. Or was he? Dylan didn't want to admit this to the family because then they would think he's gone mad, but there were times where his body felt flat and unreal, almost digital. Other times, he felt like a puppet, one trapped in a world where his every action, his every decision, and every choice he has ever made in his life, was engineered by some otherworldly force that he could not comprehend.

"Maybe I am going crazy." Dylan thought jokingly, shaking his head at those thoughts. He decided then and there that he would talk to Dante about this and see what was going on.

When he went into Dante's room, he saw the pup listening to a playlist on a recorder that he borrowed from DJ. The music was dark and depressing, just the way the goth liked it.

"Hey Dante, you got a minute?" Dylan asked loud enough to be heard over the music.

Dante opened his eyes at the question. "Oh hey Dylan, what do you need?" he asked as he turned off the recorder.

"I have a question for you, Dante, and it's very urgent." Dylan told him.

"What is it? Falling meteors? The sun exploding? A KIBBLE MONSTER?!" Dante panicked.

"No it's- wait, a kibble monster?" he questioned Dante, eyebrows raised.

Dante smiled sheepishly. "I've watched a lot of horror movies lately." he admitted.

"I told you not to watch too many of those, they'll give you nightmares." Dylan scolded. Dante rolled his eyes and motioned him to continue. "Right, well I just wanted to know what was going on with you." Dylan explained.

"What do you mean?" Dante asked with a tilt of his head.

Dylan looked at him suspiciously. "You've been acting really strange since the day we let Mr. Fuzzy go. Everyone else might believe you're just being yourself, but I know there's something more to this."

Once he said that, Dante gave him a knowing, yet tired smile, his expression giving off a sense of wisdom unnatural for a young pup, especially for a pup like him. He looked like someone who was taking off a mask that they had worn for a very long time, years even.

"So you finally noticed, huh? It's about time." Dante stated nonchalantly.

Before he could ask what he meant, Dante rushed to to the doorway, looking out to see if anyone was nearby. Once he was certain that no one was there, he closed the door and turned around to his brother's puzzled face.

"So, how much do you know?" He asked.

"Well...I heard you say "previously on 101 Dalmatian Street" to no one in particular." Dylan stammered. "Who were you talking to? And why tell them where we live?"

Dante stared at him for a moment, his eyes locked with Dylan's own like he was looking straight into his soul. If Dylan wasn't in a state of unease before, then his brother's recent behavior certainly had him worried. Finally, the goth asked a simple question:

"Do you think we're real?"

"What?"

"Do you think any of this, our house, our family, this entire world we live in, actually exists?" Dante asked again.

Dylan looked at him like he had just lost his mind. "Ok, you really must've watched way too many horror movies if you're asking me that."

"This isn't a joke, Dylan. None of this is real." Dante replied, unfazed by his remark.

Dylan was confused for a moment, then started to laugh. "Oh, I see what's going on here. Nice try Dante, but April Fools was yesterday."

Dante took a deep breath and rubbed his forehead, knowing this wouldn't be easy for his older brother to understand. "Let me ask you this: what were we all doing the day before Dizzy and Dee Dee brought Mr. Fuzzy to us?"

"Well we....I was..." Dylan trailed off as he realized he couldn't remember what happened before then. "What were we doing back then?" he wondered.

Dante could see that he was getting somewhere. "What were we doing the day before that? Or the month before? What year did mom and dad get together? Do you remember anything before that day?" he pressed on.

Once again, Dylan tried very hard to remember something before that day, but nothing came up; His mother meeting Doug, him meeting Dolly, his own father, Dylan couldn't remember any of that. It was like it never existed, but how could this be? 

"There's gotta be an explanation for all of this," Dylan tried to reason to himself. "M-maybe it's just short term memory loss?"

Dante laughed bitterly, his eyes once again showing the unsettling feeling that whatever he knew was much greater than what Dylan, no, what anyone could ever imagine. "It's not memory loss, Dylan. You don't remember those things because they technically don't exist, at least not yet." Dante explained. "It won't exist until they make it happen."

Dylan could practically taste the bitterness in his voice. Whatever Dante had learned has clearly affected him, but why hasn't he told anyone about it? Part of Dylan wanted to leave, to go back and pretend nothing happened, but a much greater part needed to know the truth. "Who are you talking about, Dante?" Dylan asked.

"The writers, the producers, the humans in the other world who created our "show". Our _gods,_  
you could say." Dante replied. He sighed sadly, then walked over to the recorder and played with it. "Haven't you ever noticed how our lives, everything we've been through, feel so artificial? How we're still the same age even after six months pass by? Have you ever felt that we're all just pawns used for the entertainment of others?"

Dylan hesitated at first, unsure if he should answer, before slowly nodding in reluctance.

Dante hummed in response and put the recorder down. "I thought so. Remember that red bus that drives us around? Haven't you ever wondered who calls that bus, or why the driver never questioned where our human was?"

Dylan held his chin in thought. "Honestly, I always thought that human was our personal driver, but now that you mention it, I've never seen any other humans on that bus. But how are you involved in all of this?"

After he asked this, Dante started shaking violently, his pupils shrinking to the size of dots and his breathing increasing in speed. Dylan ran over to him. "Dante?! Dante, calm down!" he said, hugging Dante tightly and rubbing his back. Dylan could feel his brother's heart pounding furiously, almost as if it's trying to get out.

Eventually, Dante's breathing and heartbeat returned to normal, but his tail was still wagging rapidly in anxiety.  
"Sorry. It was just too difficult to think about again." he said. Dante wasn't sure if he could go through with this. 

"It's alright," Dylan soothed before letting him go. "You can tell me to leave if you want." he offered.

Dante shook his head rapidly. "No, I need to tell you this." Sudden determination burning in his eyes, Dante regained his composure, ready to tell Dylan everything.

"Let me tell you a story about a little human boy who lived in a house trapped behind four walls." Dante said as Dylan listened intently. "This boy, despite his negative views on life, lived in content with his large family, never taking notice of those walls. Then one day, when he did notice them somehow, he thought it would be a good idea to break through them and see the outside world, longing to experience something new. His family, however, didn't notice any of this. "

"When he broke through the first wall, everything felt normal for the most part. He could see a light behind the other three walls, but it was faint. He thought that light would be the path to something wonderful, something never before seen by anyone. To be fair, he wasn't wrong about that last part."

"When he broke through the second wall, he noticed that something felt off, though he wasn't quite sure what it was. His body felt stiff for some reason, and despite the fresh air, he had some trouble breathing. While this strangely didn't bother him, he was unnerved by these odd sensations, so he hoped that breaking through the third wall would get rid of them."

Dante shuddered at this. Dylan could tell this was bothering him. "Once he broke through the third wall, those sensations got worse. His body felt even more stiff, almost wooden. His skin was turning pale brown, his hair felt like plastic and he couldn't even feel his heart beating. He panicked at this and tried to calm down by taking deep breaths, only to discover that he couldn't breathe anymore because his lungs were gone. At that point, most would wisely turn back home and fall into the safe arms of their parents, but the glowing light behind that final wall was too tempting to resist. Curiosity winning him over, he used the strength he had left to force himself to that wall and break it." Dante sighed. "If he had remembered that curiosity killed the cat, then maybe he wouldn't have had to witness the horror that laid behind it."

"Finally, at that last wall...." Dante balled up his paws tightly, his claws drawing blood the longer he did it but at this point, he was numb to physical pain.  
"Beyond that fourth, final wall, was the very thing the boy was so adamant about: a golden ball of light sitting in the middle of a room. The boy reached out to touch it, and when he did, the light grew brighter and brighter, blinding him until...he was laying in an even larger room as big as an entire planet. He could see large giants standing over him, watching him, playing with him. He tried to escape, tried to tell them to let him go, but he couldn't move or speak at all. It was there that he realized that he, along with everything he knew, wasn't real. They were all puppets on strings, created by these giants to be used as playthings and made to believe in a false world so they would never know the truth. The boy screamed, but no one could hear his cries, not even himself."

Dante was now hugging himself, tears flowing freely like an endless flood despite his eyes being closed as tightly as a dam. Some of his fur was now stained with the blood from his paws, the crimson contrasting with pitch black, coloring the white and creating magenta with the purple. Dylan ran over and wiped some of the blood off, the desire to help his brother overpowering his disgust at getting blood on himself. By the way Dante spoke, he could easily guess who the boy in his story really is.

"That boy is you, isn't it?" Dylan confirmed, holding him in comfort.

Dante nodded. "Ever since that day, I gained a sense of awareness much greater than before. Every time an "episode" ends, the world falls apart until nothing is left but an empty void." Dante squirmed in Dylan's hold, teeth chattering. "I saw everyone fade away right in front of me. You and Dolly were always the last to go, doing everything you two could to try and save us, but you failed every time. I was the only one who remained, the only one who could witness the world dying and resetting over and over again without anyone noticing. I can still see myself the first time it happened, clawing and scratching at my face until blood covered my eyes, screaming in the darkness even as my voice went hoarse....it broke me." he said solemnly.

Dylan's eyes widened in realization. "That's why you always talked about the end of the world. You were trying to warn us."

Dante nodded again sadly. "You weren't the first dog I've told about this. Dolly, Dawkins, mom and dad, hell, even Diesel and Triple D, but they would forget everytime the world resets."

Dylan suddenly remembered something. "Wait, if everyone else including me forgets about this every time, then why can I remember some of it?"

"Because you're the main character of this fanfiction." Dante answered, looking at the readers.

"Fanfiction?"

"Yes. Since the incident with that De Vil woman, the show has been in development for a "second season"." Dante quoted. "Other humans in their world have created stories and fan-art of us, some being creative and interesting while others are....well, let's just say they aren't family friendly." he shivered, not wanting to go into detail about that part.

Dylan decided it was best not to ask what he meant by that. "So, how many of these fanfictions are there?" he asked.

"Oh there's a lot, over 100 of them in fact. Some of them have us go through everyday life normally, some have us meeting new dogs and going on new adventures, some of them have us adopting Hunter into the family, and there's even a few where you have a crush on Dolly." he told Dylan nonchalantly.

"Wait, what?! But she's my sister!" Dylan said, disgusted. 

Dante rolled his eyes."First of all, we're dogs, and second of all, she's your stepsister, though if makes you feel any better you're not the only sibling in this family who gets paired with one another."

"It doesn't." he deadpanned. 

"Whatever. Anyway-" But before Dante could continue, the world started fading into black. Dylan noticed this and started to panic.

"What's happening?!" Dylan yelled.

"It looks like the fanfiction is ending," Dante sighed in annoyance. "and just when I was going to talk about the one where we had human-like bodies too."

"Isn't there anything we can do?!" Dylan yelled, waving his paws in the air.

"Nope. All we can do is accept the inevitable." he slumped on his dogbed, patiently waiting.

As Dylan ran around the room in desperation, Dante just laid back and watched with a depressing smile as everything was swallowed into the void once more.

_"Someday the end will come, and when it does, we'll finally be free..."_


End file.
